22nd Donegal Bay and Blue Stacks Festival opens this weekend

Donegal Bay and Blue Stacks Festival always proves a highlight and now in its 22nd year, the quality and variety on offer are as good as ever.

The event, which starts this weekend, is presented by Donegal County Council Culture Division in partnership with a range of arts organisations, cultural venues and community groups, in the South and South West of the county, running to Sunday next, October 16.

The Bluestack Chorale
The festival opens with The Bluestack Chorale’s ever-popular Songs for An Autumn Evening recital tomorrow night, Friday, September 30, at St. Patrick’s Parish Centre, Donegal Town. The Chorale – with soloists Deborah Cunningham, Paul Martin and Evan McGarrigle – will perform a programme of music to lighten the spirit as the evenings draw in, which includes arrangements of songs by Evan, new work by Limerick-based singer-songwriter, Emma Langford and a selection of favourites from the ensemble’s Mountcharles Opera Festival repertoire.

Scéal Loch Finne Walk and Concert
Among the festival highlights will be Saturday’s Scéal Loch Finne - a 5km walk, bus tour and concert performance at Edeninfagh Hall, curated by Glenties musician and folklorist Rónán Galvin. The walk follows the trail of the Fianna legend of the Fearghamhain and the Black Pig, from which many placenames in the area of the Glen of Glenties, Baile na Finne and Edeninfagh are derived.
Walkers are invited to meet at Edeninfagh Chapel Carpark at 11am. The concert, which features storytelling with Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair and music and song by folk duo Ye Vagabonds, Peter Campbell, Tara Conaghan and Denise Boyle, as well as artwork by Jesse Smith, takes place at Edeninfagh Hall from 8.30pm.

Ride The Tide with LUXE
Maintaining the outdoor theme, LUXE Landscape Theatre invite the people of Bundoran and beyond to join them on Saturday evening (8pm) in an illuminated procession along the Promenade, which will culminate in a spectacular finalé on the town’s main beach to mark the changing seasons. Mechanical horses and fire horses will greet the waves in this one-off magical spectacle. Outdoor, promenade event. Be sure to dress warmly for seasonal weather.

Johnny Duhan and Marion Bradfield at The Balor
Johnny Duhan, the man who wrote The Voyage for Christy Moore and many other great songs, performs alongside Donegal’s own Marion Bradfield in the Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey, also on Saturday night. Marion has performed live all over the world both as a solo artist and as part of the famed Celtic Women musical collective, while Johnny’s musical career dates to the late 1960s when he was the teenage frontman for popular Limerick beat band, Granny’s Intentions, who enjoyed a notable run of success in the UK at the time.

Dancing In The Moonlight – A Philip Lynott Play
Legendary Thin Lizzy founder and frontman Philip Lynott is the subject of a new one-man-theatre show, Dancing In The Moonlight, written and performed by London-based playwright and actor Miles Mlambo. It can be seen at the Balor Arts Centre on Thursday next, October 6.
Bearing an uncanny resemblance to his subject, Mlambo relates how the young Philip deals with being the only black child in his adopted Dublin school – and in most of the city for that matter - his discovery of music and poetry, his first bands, his first girlfriend and his formative experiences in the emerging Dublin arts scene. Exploring racism, parenthood and identity, this hauntingly accurate portrayal offer an amazing insight into Philip Lynott’s formative years and how they shaped him to become one of the most iconic figures in Irish music history. A distinction that has only grown with time.

Return of Donegal Voices
Friday next, October 7, sees the much-anticipated return of the wonderful Donegal Voices ensemble, under their conductor Andrew Batchelor, who will perform Elgar’s glorious song cycle, From the Bavarian Highlands, at St Patrick’s Church, Ballyshannon, from 7pm. Their programme for the evening will also include a selection of choral classics by Mozart, Handel, Haydn and Fauré. Featured soloists will include Deborah Cunningham, Pat Doherty and Paul Martin and the programme will be repeated the following Friday, October 14, at St Connell’s Church, Glenties.

Coming Soon
Festival audiences have much to look forward to over the coming weeks, with new shows by Dark Daughter Productions ( ‘Ghosts of Ballyshannon’s Past’), New York cabbie John McDonagh’s Off The Meter, Kate O’Callaghan’s War of Independence-themed Small Behaviours, with the Donegal Cameratas String Quartet, the Donegal Fiddlers Glenties Gathering Concert with Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Megan Nic Fhionnghaile, Aidan O’Donnell and Melanie Houton among others and much more, full details of which are now available on the festival website: www.donegalbay